Sunday, July 29, 2012

This will be on test.


As an Economics professor at a community college, I will often conclude an important point in my lectures with the following statement, “This will be on test.” And then, because oftentimes college freshmen miss statements mentioned only once, I will repeat the statement several times, each time emphasizing a different word. It goes something like, “THIS will be on test. This WILL be on test. This will BE on test. This will be ON test. This will be on TEST!” Occasionally then, I will have some wise guy raise his hand and say, “Mr. Fisher, will this be on test?” I'm not real sure how to respond to that. 
 
I emphasize to the point of “over-kill” for two reasons. First, I don't want students to be surprised when they're asked exam questions about the material. Secondly, and maybe more importantly, I want the information cemented in their minds as a building block for the rest of the course. I'll use the same strategy here for basically the same reasons. 
 
I am a sinner. I AM a sinner. I am A sinner. I am a SINNER! I do this to remind all of us, myself included, first that there is a test coming. One day we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account for our lives here on earth. Second, and again more importantly, I'm about to talk about sin and I don't want anyone to think that I have a “holier than thou” attitude, or my remarks to come off as judgmental.

I am sinner. When I did not pay a tithe to my church, that was sin. My heterosexual promiscuity before marriage, that was sin. Failing to play an active role in my children's spiritual development, that is sin. When I am rude to a waitress that is sin. These are sins not because I want them to be, need them to be, or declare them to be. (In fact, my fallen nature desires them.) They are sin because they are at their very core a rebellion. They are a rebellion against a sovereign God who a) knows all things, b) loves us, and consequentially c) wants what's best for us.

Homosexuality is a sin. There I said it. It is no worse than any of the other sins I mentioned (or left unmentioned), but it doesn't get a pass either.

The Biblical Evidence

The quick Scripture that some use as a reference on this topic is Leviticus 20:13 which reads “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” A proper understanding of the Bible, however, reveals that this is one of many Old Testament Laws given to a specific people (the Jews) at a specific time (while wandering in the wilderness) for a specific reason (to set them apart, to make them "peculiar", from the other people in the region). Jesus gave us freedom from these rules (specifically food and washing) in the New Testament through His death, burial and resurrection. This does, however, begin to paint a picture for us about how seriously God takes His original plan for the institution of marriage. 
 
This also begins the continuous and congruent message throughout the entire Bible about God's established arrangement for marriage being one man, and one woman, for one lifetime. In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus reaffirms the design that God deemed good in Eden: “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” That’s because Jesus, of all people, understood what marriage represents: him and his people. Many times the church is called the bride of Christ. Anything that marred the metaphor, that distorted God’s living picture of the gospel, Jesus most certainly considered sin—homosexuality included.
Jesus also commissioned disciples to carry his truth to the world. Paul was one of those disciples, and he has a lot to say about the sin of homosexuality:

           Romans 1:26-27, “Because (man worshiped the created rather than the Creator), God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

         1 Corinthians 6:9, “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men.”

         1 Timothy 1:10, “for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine.”

Paul’s words, like all of Scripture, are God-breathed and Jesus-approved (2 Timothy 3:16).

Now we can say, “those are harsh words”, “I don't agree with that”, or “I don't like the way that makes me feel”, but what we can't say is that God's stance on homosexuality has been taken from an obscure Old Testament passage, and twisted to mean something that satisfies a political or social agenda.

If you do not believe there is a God, then I offer no logical argument against homosexuality. If you believe that the Bible is a collection of man-made fairy-tales, then I am, as the snake in the garden, left without a leg to stand on. But if you believe that the teachings of the Creator of the Universe are revealed to mankind in the inerrant Holy Bible, then we must call sin what He calls sin, whether we agree with it or not.

The “Rational” Arguments:

“But how can God call this sin if He made me this way?” God did indeed make humans in his image, but the one fruit fiasco in the Garden of Eden destroyed that. We now have an intrinsic sin nature. If we say “I do not choose these feelings”, that is exactly right. But that does not mean that God put them there. Remember: “I AM A SINNER.” Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” The point is that, ultimately, we don't get to determine what sin is, and therefore just do “what feels right in our heart” because “every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood” (Genesis 8:21).

“This is just like when people used the church to perpetuate racial discrimination.” It is certainly true that many atrocities have been committed throughout history in the name of religion in general and Christianity in particular. (Read Donald E. Collins “When the Church Bell Rang Racist” if you don't believe me.) But those movements were about tradition and fueled by selfish, sinful motives. They were not backed by a Biblical standard. In fact, just the opposite occurred. The leaders of those awful movements were filled with hatred, and rejected God's sovereign Word.

“I have a great relationship with God.” If my children went through their lives rejecting every loving suggestion I made and rebelled against any type of positive influence I tried to have on their lives, that might put a strain on our relationship. Would I still love them? Absolutely! But I really doubt I would categorize our relationship as “great”. It wouldn't be intimate because of their rebellion. Jesus says in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commands.”

“But God is just about love.” God is indeed love (1 John 4:8). He loves all of mankind, but that doesn't mean He loves everything we do. Do you think He loves what Hitler, Ted Bundy or Jerry Sandusky did? God loves me and He loves you, and He loves peace, and joy, and life and love. And because of all of this He hates sin. And our sin does not have to be notorious to prevent us from being in a right relationship with Him. The sins I mentioned about myself earlier are more than enough to condemn me to an eternity in Hell apart from the God who loves me.

But It Doesn't Stop There!

The good news is that the Gospel of Salvation is available to all people. God has made a way through the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of His one and Only Son, Jesus, to restore that relationship...no matter the extent of our sins. Jesus invites us all, “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest”(Matthew 11:28).

After I submitted to God's authority in my life, did I still want to sin. You bet. But by the grace of God, through studying His Word, surrounding myself with His people, and daily attempting to surrender my will to His, there is a decreasing pattern of sin in my life. Do I still sin? Absolutely! But the difference is that now I have a desire to do and to have what He knows is best for my life, rather than living in rebellion apart from Him.

We were meant to serve God. To do so we must realize that He has all authority, and submit to it. Then we must seek to discern what business He has for us, and work toward it. My prayer is that He will reveal these things to all of us in a mighty way. This WILL be on test!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Saved!...From What?



          Over the past year or so, I’ve become increasingly burdened by the fact that I have a Biblical mandate to be the spiritual leader of my household and the primary faith teacher to my children.  I have also been challenged by leaders in my church and other sources to not only feel convicted about these duties, but to actually take steps to carry out my obligations.  In accordance with all of this, and with Easter rapidly approaching, I decided to have a theological discussion with my son.
          Will is all of three years old, and having any conversation with him, much less a spiritual one, is challenging to say the least.  But, it is never too early to start talking to your children about God.  Will loves for me to wrestle with him, and it is during these bouts that I feel I have his undivided attention.  In between rounds, while we were resting, I thought this might be a great time for some “God moments”.  During our conversation I said, “Did you know that Jesus came to save and rescue us?  Will’s reply, “Was he a fireman, or a Power Ranger?”
          That question may make you giggle, but I think it involves an evangelical angle we must consider.  I believe that Will, at age three, has not yet reached the age of accountability.  He does not understand the concept of sinning against a Holy God.  When he thinks about being “rescued” or “saved”, in his mind it must be from burning buildings or evil Ngylock warriors.
          Why is this relevant?  Well, I think many times we get become entrenched in using “Christianeese”.  That is terminology that Christians know and understand, but that unbelievers might be unfamiliar with.  During the “big” religious holidays of Christmas and Easter someone might ask why we celebrate.  Our response might be, “Because Jesus came to save us.”  Their appropriate question then might be, “From what?”
          The logical response then is, “From our sins.”  There it is…the “S” word.  (I know.  I know.  This is supposed to be a family publication, right?)  It’s not the first time you’ve seen that word, is it?  I mean it only appears in the Bible about 500 times!  (That’s not an exaggeration for emphasis.  I looked it up!)  But more important than the number of times it appears, is the depth and breadth to which human history has been impacted by that little three letter word.
          Think about it.  Hypothetically, if Eve had never been tempted, then the one fruit fiasco would never have occurred, this plague upon mankind would never have been perpetuated, and we would all still be living in the paradise of Eden.  But she was, and it did, and it is, and we’re not!  I know it’s not popular to talk about, but it is our sin that separates us from Holy God.
          But talk about it we must!  It is essential to salvation, to evangelism, to the faith.  Think about it.  If you tell someone to wear a life-preserver because it will make them feel good, or help them with their finances, or their relationships, they will be reluctant to put it on, and fast to remove it if there are not immediate positive results.  But explain to them that they are about to drown, and then a certain urgency takes hold.
          This, by the way, is the difference between Christianity and every other major world religion.  Every other faith group says, “Follow us, and we will teach you how to swim.”  The Bible on the contrary says in Isaiah 64:6, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
          We all stand in need of rescue.  Not by a fireman.  Not by a Power Ranger.  But by the Lord, Jesus Christ.  No wonder they call Him the Savior!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Dear Abby....

Just wrapped up a one week Mini-Term of Macroeconomics.  8AM 'til 4:30PM for 5 days of Econ! Sounds exciting right?  Anyway, just when you're starting to wonder if you're having an impact on student's lives...you get an e-mail like this.  Hope it touches you as it did me.  Thanks, Miss Abby!

Mr. Fisher,
I just wanted to let you know how much of an encouragement you were to me over
this past week. My father passed away when I was 18 (in March of 2008), he
battled bone cancer when he was in his 20’s and the Dr’s had to amputate his
left leg at the hip. He only had a 10% chance of living through the surgery
(since they didn’t have the medical technology they have today) and said if he
made it and was fitted for a prosthetic leg, it would be 200 times harder for
him to walk than a “regular” healthy human. He made it through all of that and
met my mom a few years later and got married and had all 4 of us kids and even
though he was disabled he never let that hider him from doing all that he could
do. He worked as a project manager for IBM up until about a year before he
passed away. The cancer came back when I was about 16 years old. All of that to
say… he was a better man, husband to his wife, and father to his children in his
short life even with his disability than most of my friend’s fathers were and
still are. His faith in the Lord kept him strong and made our family stronger.
The first day of your class would have been his 58th birthday, and when you
wheeled into the classroom and started telling us a little bit about your life I
sat up there in the front row holding back my tears because you reminded me so
much of my dad. I really respect and appreciate the way you talk about your
family, I know they mean so much to you and it reminds me of the good times (and
some of the same struggles…. Gas station stops, daily chores, etc.) that my
family had. The way you are living your life will benefit your children so much
as they grow up, knowing that life is so precious and to never take things for
granted, and that even though some people may look different than we do, we are
all the same in the eyes of Christ.
I appreciate your love for teaching and I truly believe that God is using you
to change the lives of many young college students. You are a very gifted
teacher… trust me there aren’t very many people who can lecture about
macroeconomics for 8 hours a day and still make it interesting! And your
testimony is certainly moving, I am thankful for you sharing some of that with
us.  I thank you for having the strength to turn your disability into a gift. I
came home every day after class telling my mom the different stories you had
told us in class about your family, and we both laughed and cried as it reminded
us of the bittersweet memories of my dad.
Thank you for all of your encouragement, my family and I will continue to pray
for you and your family and that God will continue to use your story to lead
others to Him.
         In Christ,
                 Abby Richburg

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The Virtues of ... Soccer?


          My three year old son, Will, plays soccer in our city league.  (I will pause immediately here to say that, while I never was and probably never will be a true soccer fan, I do not think that it is part of some covert Communist plot to overthrow America.)  Will loves playing soccer, but, bless his heart, he’s got some challenges to overcome.
          First of all, because of when his birthday falls, he is often the youngest player on the field.  Secondly, he is genetically disadvantaged.  Kelly and I both are in the five foot-five inch range; so he’s vertically challenged, and he gets it honestly.  Not only is he the youngest and the smallest, he’s also quite distracted at times with some other things he’s got going on in his mind.
          Will wants to be superhero when he grows up.  So for practice, he pretends to be one virtually every waking moment of his life right now.  Usually, first thing in the morning, he announces who he’s going to “be” for the day.  The current list of usual suspects would include:  Superman, Spiderman, The Hulk, Wolverine, a Power Ranger, Captain America and maybe the occasional Ninja Turtle.  You’ve heard of an actor “becoming the part”?  Well, let’s just say that Will takes his “roles” very seriously.   And don’t you dare think he’s above wearing a full costume to church or the store or wherever we happen to be headed!
 
          Now the parents and coaches at soccer practice are more than willing to play along with Will’s adopted persona.  In fact, their first question upon his arrival is not “How are you today?”, but “Who are you today?”  And of course Will smiles, and tells them, and then that’s what everyone calls him for the rest of his time on the field that day.  But telling a three year old, who wants to be a superhero, “Good work today, Batman”, is like pouring gasoline on a fire!

          As much as Will loves the attention, this is, as I mentioned, a distraction if the intended result while on the field is to actually be playing soccer!  Trying to turn this into an advantage, I told Will before one game, “Hey, Wolverine.  Pretend the soccer ball is the bad guys, and the goal is the jail.  Then you can kick those evil doers all the way to the gray bar motel!”  Do you think he was fired up?  Man, yeah!  Unfortunately, he spent most of the game talking on his pretend wrist-mounted communication device calling for back-up!
 
          Kelly and I were frustrated.  On the one hand, he’s only three years old, and if the intent of this whole experience is to have fun, then Will has certainly excelled in that effort.  On the other hand, we paid good money for soccer balls, jerseys, shin guards and cleats.  Not to mention the registration fee for the league.  If all he wants to do is be a superhero, he can do that in the backyard…for free!  So you don’t want to be “that parent” that expects way too much of their child at such a young age, but you don’t want to raise a child that never takes anything seriously either.
          After both and Kelly and I attempted repeated efforts of briefly mentioning our disapproval with his performance, both during and after games and practices, I decided Will and I needed to have a talk.  We were unloading from the mini-van before practice.  I helped him out of his car seat and was trying to explain what we expected, and he was obviously not paying attention.  I gave him a little pop on the bottom.  (Calm down.  Calm down!  I didn’t break his pelvis or anything.  But I did make sure he knew this was a serious conversation.)  Guess what.  It only took one more of those “conversations” for Will’s soccer experience to change drastically.
          In fact, he took on a whole new persona.  At the next game, when someone asked him who he was, he said, “Will Fisher…soccer player!”  And he played like it!  He ran to the ball, he kicked the ball, no “flying” in circles, no calling for back-up.  He even scored his first goal!  I could not have been prouder if he had been playing football for Mississippi State University and they had just won the national championship!  (“Yeah, right!  Like that’s ever gonna happen!”  Hey, if you’d seen Will’s first six weeks of Spring soccer, you would have said the odds of either happening were pretty much identical!)
            Hebrews 12:7-11 reveals what I feel are some important points on this topic.  “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?  If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline —then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
          My discipline of Will did not change Will physically.  He’s still “genetically disadvantaged”.  But it changed his attitude.  And, don’t get me wrong, his change of attitude didn’t make him magically run circles around the other players.  But he kept trying, and kept trying.  And he was in the right place, at the right time, and he scored!  I think God calls us to a similar life; accept discipline, keep plodding, ...score.   
Hey, maybe soccer’s not so bad after all.

Monday, February 27, 2012

The Tradeoff

The Tradeoff
There is a governing principle in economics called the “Equality-Efficiency Tradeoff.” It basically states that a society’s efforts to make the incomes of its citizens more equal, will inherit the adverse affects of a decrease in efficiency (or productivity) from those citizens. Why would a society need to make an effort to make the incomes of its citizens more equal? Well, because they are unequal (or inequal) to begin with, of course. Why are they unequal? That is a great place to begin our discussion.
In a predominantly free-market capitalistic economic system, such as the United States has, the major reason incomes are unequal is that this system rewards its citizens based on their abilities. The pre-amble to our Constitution states that “all men are created equal”, but equal does not mean same. We all have different abilities; things we do well, and things we don’t do so well. Our society rewards its citizens based on the satisfaction that buyers receive (economist call this “utility”) when they pay to enjoy our abilities.
Allow me a personal illustration. Let me tell you about two people that I admire. The first is my wife. Kelly works for an organization called “Pre-School Partners”, affectionately referred to as PSP. It’s a non-profit organization that targets 3 and 4 year old children from inner-city Birmingham. Many of these kids are from low-income, single parent homes, and this program is designed to prepare them for kindergarten. The program is extremely affordable, yet the parents are required to take classes also, in things like time management, anger management, and money management. Sound like a program that is making a positive impact on the demographic it was intended to serve? Statistics say so. Five years after leaving the program, PSP kids have higher grades and better attendance records than their counterparts who did not complete the program. Do you think Kelly’s work makes a valuable contribution to society? I think so.
The second person I’ll tell you about is a guy named Peyton Manning. You may have heard of him. He’s won the NFL’s Most Valuable Player Award an unprecedented four times. His last contract to play the game of football was reportedly in the neighborhood of $69 million over 3 years. Let me pause here to say that Kelly makes significantly less than that. Why? Is it because her contributions to the well being and functionality of our society are significantly less than Peyton’s? No. It’s because no one has ever lined up to pay $150 each to watch Kelly teach letters and numbers.
Now we can argue that society should value its teachers (and police officers, and paramedics, and firefighters, and so on) over its athletes, but do we? I once heard someone say, “You show me your calendar and your bank statement, and I’ll show you what’s important to you.” The things we spend time and money on are the things that are truly important to us. And our society values entertainment. Many people are willing to pay their hard earned money to watch Peyton execute his abilities, where they are not willing to do so for Kelly’s.
Is this fair? I have three thoughts in response to this question.
First, life is not fair. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. We are imperfect people, living in an imperfect world, and because of that, life will never be perfect.
Second, and this is the principle most fail to comprehend, Peyton’s ability to make $23 million a year, doesn’t decrease Kelly’s opportunity to make that much. Wealth is not like a great big pie that, when divided, means that if you get a bigger slice, I, by definition, get a smaller one. Wealth creates more wealth. Peyton making big money means that someone has to build a big stadium for him to play in, and someone has to make jerseys with his name and number on them (for him and thousands of fans), and someone has to make hot dogs that sell for $15 at that stadium on the days he’s wearing that jersey, and executing his abilities.
Third, and lastly, I would ask anyone who asks “Is this system fair?” to explain to me another system that has historically set a precedent for greater fairness.
Now, if we have a system that creates so much inequality, (and we do) and we begin to value equality (which we have), what steps could we take to ensure more income equality? Two things could accomplish this; a progressive tax structure and transfer payments.
A progressive tax is taxing a higher fraction of a higher income. A progressive tax bracket structure takes more money away from rich people, which by definition makes them poorer. Transfer payments then take some of that money and give it to poorer people (in the form of Social Security, and food stamps, and earned income tax credits), which by definition makes them richer. That’s how you bring about greater income equality.
There is a negative unintended side affect to these practices is that it gives both groups less incentive to be productive. In fact, it gives both groups more incentive to be less productive; less efficient. As a rich person, why would you work hard to make more, if the reward would be that more would be taken? As a poor person, why would you work hard to make more, if the reward would be that less would be given? (Incidentally, if you do not believe that most people are driven by individual ambition and incentive, I would love for you to introduce to me these angels among us.)
Allow me a second personal illustration. I was born with the condition cerebral palsy, commonly known as CP. It’s a little like a short circuit in the wiring between my brain and muscles. CP has severely affected my balance and coordination , and I use an electric wheelchair for mobility. Simple things like getting dressed, or loading into a vehicle, or picking up a pen I’ve dropped, are challenging at best. According the laws of our land, I am fully qualified to receive a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) check (commonly known as disability) from the federal government each month.
However, at some point I decided that I wanted more out of life. In high school I studied and made good grades and did well on the ACT. I earned scholarships to college, and studied, and made good grades. I am now a gainfully employed, productive, tax-paying member of society. I teach economics at a college.
One day, during a break between semesters, I decided to go fishing. While fishing off the dock, I noticed a car pull into the parking lot. The driver, a guy who appeared to be about my age, hopped out of the car and seemed to have no trouble carrying a large bag of charcoal. He made another trip from his car to the picnic table, this time carrying coolers and other odds and ends. On his third trip, he gathered his tackle box and rod and reels, and headed my way.
We chatted for awhile, while we fished, as fisherman often do. During the course of our conversation I asked, “What do you do?” He said, “Oh, I, uh…draw a disability check.” Now I’m as friendly as the next guy, and we continued to talk and fish for quite some time.
But sometime later I realized something. Every day the alarm goes off, I struggle with the challenge to get out of bed. I struggle with the challenge of getting dressed. I struggle with the challenge of getting into my vehicle, sometimes with the added challenge of buckling my children into their car-seats when I’m in charge of day care. On the job, I work to adequately perform the required duties of my position.
And I do all of this so that (among other things), on occasion I may enjoy some leisure time – like fishing. I also realized that, meanwhile I am receiving another reward for my diligence, good choices, and hard work. I get to pay taxes! And some of those taxes go to pay the disability check of my fishing buddy!
Now let me ask you a question: If someone had explained to me during my formative years that this is the way things would be, do you think it would have provided me any incentive to press forward? Do you think, if someone had told me that this is the way the world works, that I would have been more motivated to set goals or try to achieve more in life? I don’t. In fact, I might have been persuaded to take advantage of the hand-outs being offered. It would have certainly been easier.
This is the “Equality-Efficiency Tradeoff.” And it gives both groups less incentive. It gives “rich people” less incentive, for they know the more they work, the more will be taken. It gives “poor people” less incentive, for they know the less they work, the more will be given.
In 1990, in his book “Free to Choose”, Milton Friedman said, “A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither.” It seems that twenty years later, we still haven’t heeded this warning.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Matt's Mouse


The Amazing Kelly may deserve the "Wife of the Year" award for Christmas 2011 when she bought me a crossbow.  I had been talking about buying one for some time, but never had pulled the trigger, pardon the pun. Having a disability, it just seemed a good way for me to extend deer season beyond gun hunting. Kelly knew that there was an opportunity for me to hunt coming up at a “bow only” area, and she actually surprised me before Christmas Day with this great gift.

My first opportunity to try my skills with my new toy, was with my friend Matt at a hunting club he belongs to in south Georgia called “The Paradise”. I'll pause here to make very clear that the name does not refer to the human accommodations. It's called “The Paradise” because it is hog heaven. It is swampy, nasty, muddy, over-grown...wait, was I describing where the hogs or people sleep?

The camp, maybe I should put that in quotations, is really a couple of storage buildings on the slab of an old house-place, surrounded by abandoned trailers demolished by weather and left by previous hunters at the club. One of the storage buildings is larger and set up a bit like a bunk house. The other is considerably smaller and is Matt's “private residence”. There is electricity in the storage buildings, but no running water inside. In fact, going to the bathroom in the middle of the night involves shoes and a flashlight!

I'll take a minute here to tell you that my hunting buddy Matt is a manly man. He's more or less a confirmed bachelor. His best friend is what most of us consider to be the ugliest dog on the planet, a German Wirehaired Pointer named Montana. He has a real job, but he could easily live off the land if need be. Matt grows his own vegetables, and hunts and fishes for meat. By the way, when he's hunting, virtually everything that moves, he does so with bow and arrow he made himself. And when it comes to “The Paradise”, he loves the place.

After the first day of the hunt, we ate a big supper and sat around the campfire and chatted until it was time for bed. (Morning comes early when you're at “The Paradise”.) Matt helped me settle in at the bunk house, said goodnight, and then headed to his cabin about fifty yards away. I sat down on the bunk and was about to pull my boots off when, you guessed it, a mouse ran out from under my bed, along the base of the wall and underneath the bunk on the other side of the room.

Now, to be clear, this was not like a sewer rat the size of a small dog or anything. It was just a field mouse. And, while the amenities at “The Paradise” are a long way from “The Four Seasons”, or a Motel 6 for that matter, the place didn't appear to be over-run with the furry critters. So I decided the best course of action was just to steel my nerves and deal with it, for two main reasons. First of all, it was just a mouse, right?And what is a mouse but a squirrel with no fluffy tail and a PR problem. Squirrels don't bother me. I was literally surrounded by dozens of them while I was hunting. Secondly, I decided that if I was gonna go hunting with manly man Matt, a mouse in the bunk house was just, well, part of it.

So I decided I would be a manly man too. I mean, when I told people I was going wild hog hunting down in south Georgia with my crossbow, I felt manly. When I sat around the campfire and drank black coffee and told of the adventures of past hunts, I felt manly. When I sat out in the rain in my camouflage and waited for a wild animal to come within spitting distance to harvest and provide meat for my family, I felt manly. But, ya'll, when that mouse came back out in full view and ran underneath the bed I was sitting on...I was done being manly!

I got on my crutches, walked outside and, according to Matt, screamed like a little girl. In my defense, Matt was in his cabin 50 yards away sleeping with earplugs and a snoring dog. I was just trying to get his attention. After a few minutes, I saw a light come on, and a few minutes later, he was walking up the steps to the bunkhouse. “You rang?,” he said, grinning sheepishly. I said,”Hey, brother. You can make fun of me all you want to, but I'm not gonna be able to sleep with your little friend in there.”

And he did. He made fun of me quite a bit. He called me some names that I'll not repeat in a Christian devotional book. Some were clever, some were funny, some were well...true. He gave me a good ribbing, all in good fun.

And then do you know what he did? He traded places with me! He packed up all my stuff, my sleeping bag and everything and moved me to his private cabin. And, knowing Montana would be up all night with a stranger in the room, Matt moved to the bunkhouse. Now Matt's place was no Ritz Carlton, but there were no signs of mice, and I spent the next two nights in relative peace, quiet and comfort.

I know it's not a perfect allegory, but it does give us just a little glimpse into what Jesus did for us. What was that? Well, He traded places with us. That should have been us on that cross. All of the pain, suffering, torture and humiliation should have been poured out on us for our sins. 1 John 2:2 tells us, “(Jesus) is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Did Matt make fun of me because I'm not as manly as he is? You bet. Will God make fun of us because we are not righteous and holy as He is? No, but it is on that premise that we will be judged. But never fear. If you have accepted the precious gift of Christ's atoning sacrifice, then God will declare the debt of your sin paid in full. How should we respond to a love like that? James 2:12-13 tells us, “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!”

And after we pass from death unto life, God gives us a mansion with Him in Heaven...with no mice.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Tremors

I realize that for those who know me, and know that I have a condition called cerebral palsy, the title of this post might be a bit misleading.  You might think that because my cerebral palsy causes spasticity, that the title might be referring to the trembling that occurs in my muscles from time to time.  No, the title is from the movie "Tremors". Raise your hand if you’ve seen the movie “Tremors”. This movie is what some would call a “cult classic”. (That is not to say that this movie is of the occult.) A “cult classic” is, in my opinion, a lesser known movie whose fans are truly fanatical. They’ve seen the movie dozens upon dozens of times, can quote from memory entire dialogue sequences, and probably have dressed up at least once on Halloween as one of its characters.

Such is the case with “Tremors”. It’s a low budget flick about, stay with me here, people in a small isolated town defending themselves against underground alien monsters. It stars, and I use that term loosely, Fred Ward and a young Kevin Bacon. Let me end all debate and controversy here by stating, “I love this movie!”

Allow me here a little stroll down amnesia lane to explain how this little movie came to reside permanently in the top 20 of my “all time favorites” list. I grew up in a very rural area. Some people might even call it the boonies. To say that cable television was slow in coming to our community (and I use that term loosely as well) would be an understatement. (Maybe they didn’t have enough line to run out that far. I don’t know.) We didn’t go to movies as a family when I was growing up. (You'll have to ask Big Bill and Momma Fay about that.) But I developed a friendship with the new kid in school my eighth grade year named Jeremy. And Jeremy had two VCRs.

Now, if it weren't prohibited under federal law, Jeremy might have made copies of movies he rented. And if he had made copies he might have loaned them out to his friends. And if he had made and loaned, one of the movies might have been “Tremors”. And if Tremors were one of those movies, he might have made me a copy, and my brother and I might have watched it. And being starved for entertainment such as we were in rural Mississippi in the summertime with no cable or satellite TV, we might have watched it about a hundred times.

In one scene from the movie, Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon's characters find themselves on top of a large boulder surrounded by these underground alien monsters. The monsters can't penetrate the rock, so our heroes are safe for the moment, but as time goes on, they realize they will die of thirst or hunger before the monsters simply leave of their own accord. The conversation on top of the boulder goes something like this:
Fred: “What we need is a plan.”
Kevin: “I say we just run for it!”
Fred: “Running's not a plan. Running is what you do when a plan fails!”

May I ask you a question? Are you planning to go to church this Sunday? If so, do you have a …plan? Or are you just running? How many of us put as much energy and effort into getting our kids and ourselves ready to go to His house on His day as we do into getting to work and school on time on Monday? Do you set an alarm? Did you gas up the day before so you won't have to stop on the way? Will you leave 15 minutes early...just in case. 
 
I think, for many of us, one of our problems is that we think getting to church on time will just happen. We think that since we don't have to be at church as early as we do work and school, there'll be plenty of time to get everything done. This just isn't true. I don't know about your house, but our house can be anything but peaceful on a Sunday morning. And the Devil will jump on you with both feet to give you any excuse not to go to worship. Or, better yet, he'll make you so frazzled by the time you get there, that you're not able to worship. 
 
Hebrews 10:24-27 reads, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God”(emphasis added). 
 
Now, hear me out. I, for the most part, am not naturally bent toward legalism. I don't think it is necessarily a sin to miss church once in awhile. In fact, I think there are some legitimate reasons for missing church. On the other hand, I've heard people say, “God doesn't call roll on Sunday mornings.” Well, that might be, but I also don't believe we should abuse the precious gifts of grace and mercy that He so generously bestows upon us.

So, what to make of this thing we call “going to church”? Do we attend regularly? Is attending half of the time to be considered “regular”? Is being fifteen to twenty minutes late when we do attend really giving our best in an effort to serve a risen Savior? How do we attempt to correct these issues? Well, we must have a plan! Why? Because, “Proper planning prevents potential problems and poor performance.”

Will there be Sundays that are absolutely crazy at your house? Sure. Will there be times when everything that can go wrong on Sunday mornings will indeed go wrong? You bet. Are there going to be times where “the best laid plans” have indeed gone awry, and the only option you have left is just to run? Of course. But remember: Running's not a plan! Running is what you do when a plan fails!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

The Painted House


The sign reads, “Paint House.  Not like fence.  No up, down.  Paint house side to side.  (1/2 right hand, 1/2 left hand.)”  Remember the movie?  Of course you do.  All of us “children of the ‘80’s” remember “The Karate Kid.”  I caught part of this movie the other night and realized something I’d never thought about before. Tucked away in the middle of this motion picture is a great Biblical truth.
Now, for those of you who may have forgotten, after Mr. Miyagi rescues Daniel from the Cobra’s, he promises to teach him karate if Daniel promises to do exactly as he instructs with no questions.  Well, Daniel spends the next several days waxing cars, painting fences, and sanding floors.  After spending all day painting the guy’s house, while his instructor is off fishing, Daniel is pretty ticked.  “Did you ever think I might have wanted to go fishing, too?” Daniel asks.  “You not here when I leave,” Mr. Miyagi says.  Daniel says, “I thought I was gonna learn karate.”  “You learn plenty,” says Mr. Miyagi.”  Daniel has had enough waxing, painting and sanding and announces, “I’m going home!” 
          This is the turning point of the movie; where the rubber meets the road.  Mr. Miyagi says, “Daniel-son show me wax on, wax off.”  Over the next couple of minutes those boring or repetitive “household chore”- type arm motions are transformed into karate blocks by the Master.  At the end of this brief training session, Mr. Miyagi throws a flurry of punches and kicks, and Daniel blocks every one!  He walks away amazed at his own accomplishments.
          In the book of James, Chapter 1, verses 2 through 6, it is written: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
          So many times we ask God, “Why”?  Why am I going through all this?  Well, here’s our answer.  We’re in training!  God is preparing us for the trials that are going to come later.  God may allow us to go through a thunderstorm at age twenty-eight to prepared us for the hurricane that will hit at age fifty-three.  As the verses say, these trials are developing our perseverance (or patience) so that we can be mature and complete.  The verses also say that God is not stingy with his wisdom and will give it generously to those who ask believing.  In other words, He’ll help us to understand the answers to those “why” questions.
There’s another reason we get to go through troubles.  2 Corinthians 1:4 says, “He comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”  It’s all about perspective.  It’s all about realizing that life is about way more than what you’re going through right then and there.  Even those repetitive “household chore”-type things, like Bible study, prayer time, Sunday school, and tithing are only a small part of a bigger picture.
So thank you, Daniel LaRusso.  Thank you, Mr. Miyagi.  Thank you for teaching us that “wax on, wax off” is less about buffing cars to a shine and more about polishing us into the gems God wants us to be.        

Here Comes the Bride


          (I cannot believe I’m about to start a bog with this sentence.)  The other day I was watching The Learning Channel’s (TLC) reality show “Say Yes to the Dress.”  In my defense, I’d just come home from riding horses (that’s a very manly activity, right?), and my wife already had it on the T.V.  (I know, I know, “Sure, Justin.  Whatever you say.  We know you watch it ALL the time.”)  I do admit, however, that it was me and not my wife that picked up the remote and pressed the “pause” button so that I could contemplate what I was seeing and hearing.
          For those who have never seen the show (bless you for your purity), it’s basically a “reality” show that follows “brides-to-be” seeking the perfect wedding dress in the premier bridal salon, Kleinfeld in Manhattan.  You can imagine the drama that unfolds on any episode as drama queens, stage moms, mother-in-laws-to-be, and grooms in waiting use passive-aggressive, or very aggressive tactics to get their way.  It is indeed a train wreck that might be difficult to turn away from.
          As I made my way through the living room pretty much oblivious to the television (stop snickering), I overheard a consultant asking the bride-to-be what she was looking for in a wedding dress.  The woman’s response was “Trashy.”  Insert clip here of consultant in an interview obviously recorded later, “I’ve had brides say in response to that question, “edgy” or “over the top” or even “gaudy”, but never “trashy”.
          Why?  Why would a bride ever want to look trashy on her wedding day?  Well, quite honestly, I don’t know.  I could offer a guess about this woman’s family background, self esteem issues or the persona she wants to project, but that would be total conjecture.  The real question I want to ask is “Are you a trashy bride?”
          I love my bride.  I think she is an amazing woman.  I even call her “The Amazing Kelly” sometimes.  You can talk bad about this broken down, bent-over redneck all you want to.  I’ll even let you get away with talking bad about my snot nosed kids, a little bit.  But talk bad about my bride, talk bad about Kelly, then we’ve got problems. 
Many times throughout scripture, the church is referred to as Jesus’ bride.  Revelation chapters 19-21 is the picture of a wedding ceremony between Jesus Christ the bridegroom and we, the church, his bride.  Ephesians 5:25-27 reads, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her  to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”  Doesn’t sound trashy to me.
Listen to Chip Ingram’s thoughts on this subject as related in “Living on the Edge.”
          In our efforts to…become relevant to “the culture,” it appears we have fallen into it.  I fear we have become a generation of Christians convinced that sex, salary, and status are the real keys to a life of fulfillment and happiness.  The average believer, according to research, does not live in any appreciably different way from those outside of Christ.  The culture’s promises…have resulted in unprecedented divorce, financial collapse, disenfranchised children…The church of the twenty-first century is weak and worldly…At the heart of “worldliness” is who you love and who you trust to meet the deepest needs of your life…If we would begin to feel deeply sad about running into the arms of (this other) lover (called “the world”), and comprehend how deeply this grieves our God who loves us and longs to give us the best, I think we would see a lot more Christians living like Christians.
In the fourth chapter of James, the Bible says that anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  There’s an old country song that says, “I like my women just a little on the trashy side.”  Maybe so………but God doesn’t.

Economics, Thanksgiving, and A Great Deal


I love my job.  I believe that God has gifted me with the ability to teach.  God has given me, I believe, not only the ability to convey information but also to make it interesting and memorable for students.  I cannot imagine making a living doing anything else.  I cannot imagine anything I would enjoy more.  One of the first lectures I give in my Economics classes is about the different sectors of the economy and their conflicting goals. 
I explain that, on the one hand, we have consumers.  That would be you and me.  Our goal is to maximize satisfaction.  We do this through a process called cost-benefit analysis, CBA.  It sounds more complicated than it is.  In fact, everyone uses the process several times each day.  It’s just that we don’t call it “CBA”.  Cost-benefit analysis is the process of comparing the additional cost that I will have to expend because of a decision, versus the additional benefit I will get to enjoy because of that same decision.  An example would be when Kelly and I went on our honeymoon cruise.  My travel agent said that we could book a room in the bowels of the ship for one price, or get one with a balcony view for $1,000 more.  (My initial question was something about whether these two rooms were on the same ship going to the same places!)  I had to decide whether the additional benefit of sitting on the balcony, and sipping hot chocolate and watching Hubbard Glacier calve off into the ocean was worth the additional cost of $1,000.
On the other hand, however, we have producers.  Their objective is to maximize profit.  Profit consists of two elements, revenue and cost.  Revenue is the amount of money earned by producers from the sale of goods and services.  Costs are the expenses associated with running a business: rent, electricity, salaries, etc.  In order to increase profit, a producer would increase revenue, or decrease cost, or some combination of those two procedures.
I then tell my classes the story of the first Thanksgiving Kelly and I spent together as a married couple.  We spent this time with her family in Hiram, GA.  We had a huge feast on Thursday evening, and I went to bed in a near comatose state.  I slept well that night.  I vaguely remember drooling on my pillow so much that I flipped it over in order to enter into the next phase of sleep.  All of a sudden, prior to 5 AM my new bride jumped out of bed like she was being shot at!  She left the house almost immediately.  No coffee, no make-up, no nothing, just left.  And she was gone all day!
You know what she was doing, right?  She was shopping.  This is the day we call “Black Friday”.  Contrary to some, it did not come by this moniker from shoppers becoming black and blue fighting over great deals on consumer goods.  It is called “Black Friday” because it begins that amazing time in the world of retail where producers move from loss to profitability.  To use an accounting term, they move from the “red” into the “black.”
For me, the most intriguing part about this day and those ensuing is that both sectors of the economy are excited at the same time.  Consumers are happy because they are maximizing satisfaction by getting great deals.  We feel we are paying less and getting more in return.  Businesses are excited because most of them generate more revenue in these few weeks, than in the six months prior!  It’s a win-win.  Both sides feel like they’re getting a great deal!

Do you know who else gets a great deal?  Those people who choose to put their trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.  Mark 8:37 asks, “..What can a man give in exchange for his soul?”  As a Christ follower, we trade our sin for His righteousness.  We trade our righteousness, which is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), for His holiness.  We trade our poverty for His riches (2 Corinthians 8:9).  We trade places, and He received the wrath of God for our sins that is due us (Galatians 1:4 & Ephesians 5:2).  What a great deal!  Now that’s worth getting up early for!